Let’s embark on a journey into the sounds of REO Speedwagon, one of the hottest US rock bands in the early to mid ’80s. This post and its playlists will be covering REO Speedwagon’s prime between 1980 and 1987.

In addition after listening to REO’s 1978 album You Can Tune a Piano But You Can’t Tuna Fish I decided to include songs from that great album too. Why?
Listening to that album for the first time, it gave me a kind of Hi Infidelity looming feeling. So it had to be part of our REO Speedwagon sound journey.

So, now we are talking about five studio albums in this extended timespan.

1978’s You Can Tune a Piano But You Can’t Tuna Fish gave REO two minor hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. “Roll with the Changes” and “Time for Me to Fly” both made the top 60.

REO’s 1980 smash album Hi Infidelity is one of my all-time favorites. To me it’s synonymous for the charts sounds coming from the US in that era.

Hi Infidelity generated four top 40 hits. The lead single „Keep On Loving You“ went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. „Don’t Let Him Go“, the follow-up single, topped out at #24 on the Hot 100, whereas „Take It on the Run“ once again cracked the top 10 and landed at #5 on Billboard’s flagship chart. The final single release „In Your Letter“ also made the top 20 on the Hot 100 chart.

REO Speedwagon’s biggest hit. „Keep On Loving You“ hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1980. From REO’s album Hi Infidelity.

Hi Infidelity sold more than 10 million copies and became REO’s commercially most successful album.

The band’s follow-up album Good Trouble came out in June 1982. Two singles made the top 40 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart with “Keep the Fire Burnin’“ hitting #7 and “Sweet Time” peaking at #26.

REO Speedwagon’s third studio album in the ’80s Wheels Are Turnin’ (1984) gave them another #1 Billboard Hot 100 single with “Can’t Fight This Feeling” plus three more top 40 hits (“I Do’ Wanna Know” #29, “One Lonely Night” #19, and “Live Every Moment” #34).

REO’s final studio album in the ’80s Life as We Know It (1987) provided the band with two more top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. “That Ain’t Love” hit #16, and “In My Dreams” climbed to #19.

Two additional new studio recordings made 1988‘s The Hits compilation album. “I Don’t Want to Lose You” and “Here with Me” which reached #20 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The first playlist is a selection of REO songs from You Can Tune a Piano But You Can’t Tuna Fish, Hi Infidelity, and a first chunk of songs from Good Trouble. The second playlist captures songs from Good Trouble (second chunk), Wheels Are Turnin’, Life As We Know It, and The Hits.

Please enjoy 42 REO Speedwagon songs with 164 minutes of classic rock sounds from late the ’70s to the late ’80s.

The story behind the hit song. A great interview by Professor of Rock with REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Patrick Cronin Jr. (lead vocalist, songwriter, rhythm guitarist, and pianist of the band) talking about the making of REO’s top 5 hit “Take It On The Run”.

“That Ain’t Love“ was REO’s highest charting single from their 1987 album Life as We Know It. The song reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in spring of 1987. 

This one is very touching. VH-1‘s Behind the Music tells the story of REO Speedwagon and their roller-coaster career which led to seminal recordings like Hi Infidelity. It’s from 2001. The video is only 360p, but the compelling storytelling compensates for the lack of audio quality.

On July 13, 1985 REO Speedwagon performed at Live Aid in front of an audience of 100,000 people in the John F. Kennedy Stadium, Philadelphia USA. The event was organised by Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure (Ultravox) to raise funds for the Ethiopian famine disaster and broadcasted across the world via one of the largest satellite link-ups of all time. Their #1 smash hit „Can’t Fight This Feeling“ was one of the songs they performed and one of the highlights of that event.